Not My Hero

It is very possible that Samantha Mohan is a lovely person.

But does she deserve a "Heroes" award for 15 years of handing out clean needles to addicts?

That is exactly what will happen next week thanks to the BC Persons with AIDS Society.

All of the evidence is that the clean needle programs have NOT scotched or reduced the spread of HIV and other diseases. That, in fact, the numbers continue to rise geometrically.

What Mohan has been doing for 15 years is sad, ineffective and an atrocity.

She has been helping addicts to stay stupid.

There are many people here in BC who have been quietly helping addicts to get clean and walk away from needles and bottles and pipes and they are unsung heroes.

Mohan is herself a kind of addict. She NEEDS those grateful, grasping hands reaching out to her so that she can feel wanted. But at what a cheap price!

When Immigration gets it Wrong, They really get it Wrong

Now we have a 23-year old Rwandan refugee claimant who has been a public menace since he arrived here at the age of 14.

Last week he terrorized a mother and her daughter and all for $15.

He should have been deported ages ago, but for sexual assault charges that are still standing and must be dealt with.

Send this dreadful excuse for a human being back to his village.

Let's get Civil

I was out of town and missed the wisdom of the sages, like Mike Harcourt, on what constitutes a civil society.

But I can tell you this:

First, I was disappointed to see the Sun's choice of commentators/editors - The Usual Suspects.

Second, as I see so much of the Rudely Uncivil Society on a daily basis, I hold out not much optimism for healthy, positive change.

Yesterday, I was walking across a pedestrian crosswalk in the parking garage at YVR. I young kid was parked firmly in the middle of the crosswalk, with miles of empty concrete where he could park legally and without getting in any one's way.

When I pointed this out to him ("Please move off this crosswalk."), he started shouting hysterically at me, "I'M SORRY!!!"

Earlier in the day, I was at a family celebration in a downtown hotel. I smiled at one of the other guests. She glared at me.

The civil society has not only a long way to go; it has an almost impossibly long way to go.

Susan on the Civil Society

To The Editors Re: Civil Society - fact or fiction? SUN - April 5/08

In a civil society, Small Businesses and the families that operate themshould not have their life's work expropriated by the government and hugecorporations. Small independant businesses are the heart and soul of ourcommunities - to be cherished and supported.The Canada Line and all it's government and corporate partners have turned ablind eye to the agony caused by excavating the length of Cambie Street forthe past 2 and a half years, and are hiding in part, behind a lack oflegislation.Jane Bird the CEO of the Canada Line project, defended their position torefuse any and all financial relief by saying "there is no existinglegislation that requires it" and "as a society, we may want to have aconversation about whether to compensate".We most certainly do.In a civil society, when governments use their powers to confiscate valuefor the common good, such as when they build multi-billion dollartransportation projects with taxpayers money - individuals must becompensated. If all the impacts of these mega-projects cannot be adequatelymitigated with factored in compensation and financial support, then theprojects should not proceed.All of us who face this preventable financial ruin expect the City, theProvince and all the Canada Line partners including TransLink with theirrecently announced $408 Million dollar 'slush Fund', to do the right thing.Our life's work is at stake, along with our faith in government to act withintegrity.We expect full compensation and legislation to ensure that citizens areprotected, and that this despicable situation never happens again.And, in a civil society, small businesses should not have to take theunthinkable step of taking their government to court to achieve this.As Stephen Hume said in his piece, 'let's hold society to higher moralitythan economic self-interest'.

Susan HeyesHazel&Co3190 Cambie Street604 687-0721

New Tune?

With mild apologies to Roger Miller, "David in North Burnaby" has written a clever little ditty to the addicts and their helping friends who have taken over the town.

See it (on David's blog) and sing along with it here.

High Priorities for the Police

7 seconds of Chuck

Planet of the Apes (Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968)

Charlton Heston - Moses & Michelangelo

I was never a big fan of Charlton Heston, but reading his obituary in this morning's NY Times is like reading a history of America in the last century - and not just the movies. Wars, social movements, unions, name it and he was involved.

Not my cup of tea, but a fascinating and amazingly accomplished man.

ICBC chief gone - What took him so Long?

"The chief executive officer of the Insurance Corp. of B.C. gave notice Friday that he is resigning and moving to the private sector, the same day the RCMP announced an investigation into a scandal arising from the corporation's automotive research and training facility."

Paul Taylor says this has nothing to do with the fact that the RCMP announced yesterday afternoon that they are investigating ICBC.

Read the whole story here, and then tell me - Lately, does it seem that the RCMP spend more time investigating officials of our governments than all other crooks? Do they have more success with these files than, say, with proving that violent drug dealers and Hell's Angels may be the same people?

No News is good news

If it is true that the former police commissioner would never order an investigation into his own police fores unless they were on the six o'clock news....!!!!

So the Sun reports today.

Good grief.

Can anyone say, "Malfeasance?"

Quote of the Day

A senior doctor ot Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster has said the they are in crisis mode due to shotages of resources.

But Health Minister and Chairman of the Rose-Colored Glasses Committee, George Abbott&Costello says...

"IT'S NOT THAT BAD."

Later, at lunch when asked how the lamb was, he repeated, "NOT BAAAAAAAD...."

Les is Becoming Way More with every passing Day

To fully appreciate the complexities and near-nicities of the John Les melodrama, you must read the first-rate coverage by the Sun's team in today's paper.

Suffice it to say that a number of farm properties were subdivided and re-sold as private residential properties under Les' watch, and the stink is palpable.

Simple question:

If and when you are an elected official a government, should you not be suspending all business transactions that could in any way be under the eye of the very body to which you have been elected?

Duh? You think?

One Man's Freedom's are....

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Doug Christie, the Victoria lawyer who has made a career of defending neo-Nazis and other well-meaning dears (Zundel, Seifert, Keegstra), has been found guilty of misconduct and fined by the usually moribund Law Society of BC.

Of course, Mr, Christie has always claimed - and so many righteous people support this farce - that he is defending free speech.

That assertion probably has an ounce or two of mini-truth in it.

But, hey, why not a little Jew hating while we're at it.

Van Dongen to the Rescue

John van Dongen has been making a favorable impression as our new 3-day Solicitor-General.

With respect to ICBC, he has called for a meeting with the full bard of directors. He has hinted that there may be a look at the corporation's shenanigans by the RCMP.

Perhaps Wally On-theSidelines could take a lesson.

Annie Lennox- Why

why, indeed?

Martin Luther King Junior's Historic Last Speech

40 years ago today, Dr. KIng was murdered. So soon after, Robert Kennedy was murdered. What a time. What great loss.

Weekend Announcement

I'm off to a family event in Winnipeg tomorrow.

I will be blogging, but emailing may be a problem.

PLease Bookmark this page if you want to be sure to follow the musings of Mr. Nervous and Senor Kvetch.

ICBC Exempt From Scrutiny

There's the Sun headline and it says it all.

How can the biggest car dealer and a government agency at that not be required to register under the Motor Vehicle Act?

Perhaps between Olympic lunches, the Premier might think about working on that.

To make matters worse, "ICBC has refused to reveal whether any employees have been disciplined as a result of the scandal."

So reassuring to know that a crown corporation need have no sense of responsibility to the public it alleges to serve.

Also fun to learn that the in-house repair shop has been fixing employees cars. This is much like the way some employees in Richmond government regularly gas up for free and have their cars washed at Richmond City Works Yard. Or so we are told....of course, everyone concerned denies such spurious allegations.

Gulag, anyone?

Who's Protecting Whom?

It is not encouraging to learn that "former police complaint commissioner Don Morrison refused to order a public hearing into the death of Frank Paul because he wanted to save the career of a young police officer..."

Isn't that making a number of judgements and reaching several conclusions without and before asking any questions?

The implications are, among other things, that Constable Instant was guilty of something and that his career was more important than the death of Mr.Paul or the public's need to know and the Paul family's need to know the truth.

All of those conclusions are suspect without a full enquiry and more than suspect in moral and ethical values.

What can we expect of our police when their own watchdog doesn't know his own job?

Read the Vancouver Sun coverage here.